When I first learned how to wear eyeliner, I became addicted.

Back in my freshman year of high school, I felt like it was a new beginning where I could do and try anything. YouTube was in its prime and I began to constantly watch makeup tutorials. One of the trends that I kept seeing in these makeup videos was winged eyeliner. I also noticed in my high school there were maybe less than five people who were rocking the look as well.

So, curious me wanted to see what it was all about.

I started to put eyeliner on, and it was LIFE CHANGING. When I mean life changing, I mean once I started wearing it, years went by where there was never a day where I didn't wear it to school. And once I figured out the whole wing thing, that was it. I found my "thing."

Everyone who knew me in high school knew that I never went to school without my winged eyeliner. It was something that quickly became a part of my morning routine. If I was rushing to get ready, my ride would have to wait two more minutes because my eyeliner was crucial.

Even if I wore the bummiest outfit, that eyeliner still had to be put on. For half of high school, I would really just wear my eyeliner every day. As the years kept going, I learned about filling in my brows and concealer, and those became a part of my everyday makeup routine too.

I became known as the "girl with wings." I'd get the typical, "Are you a cat?," or "You're going to fly away with those wings."

I get it, the line can be super strong sometimes, but I still did it anyway. Even when my family would make fun of me for doing so, I did it all the time.

But why?

It's suddenly my freshman year of college, and I was still following my routine. I met an overwhelming amount of people, and I became the girl with wings once again.

Going to college changed my perspective on a lot. I began to get tired of the constant routine of putting my winged eyeliner on every day. I started to feel ugly in it at times.

That's when I decided to stop wearing it for one day.

I know, one day. Nothing crazy. But, it was for a volunteering event with people that I saw all the time. I got different looks from people, and a few called me out on it. They'd say "I didn't even recognize you," or "Wow, you look different."

I quickly felt insecure. I continued to wear eyeliner for the next few months.

I went through a lot my freshman year and felt that my eyeliner was just something I latched onto for confidence. I always felt that this look was what made me, me. That's when I realized I didn't need this line on my face to define who I really was

I started to wearing it only sometimes, and it changed my life. I started to embrace who I really was, and to show my actual eye shape. It was my goal for 2018 to not really wear eyeliner as much as I used to. And, I'll admit that I still wear it maybe one or two times a week, but compared to every day in high school, it was a huge accomplishment.

Now, I focus on putting makeup on to highlight my natural features. I've come a long way.

What I'm trying to get at is that you shouldn't latch onto a specific makeup trend or anything that isn't YOU to remain confident. I'm not saying that wearing makeup to feel confident isn't okay either. I think that we should all be perfectly imperfectly ourselves, and feel confident in the skin you're in.

Don't hide behind something that isn't what makes you, you. I promise the people who are worth keeping around are the people who don't care about your physical features.

Winged eyeliner, who?